Rise of the New Mews
by 67OtakuGirl24X3
Summary: Tokyo Mew Mew is back, and this time, they're extending their numbers a bit. Narrated by the 1st new mew, Jessica.  *Note A year has gone by since the last season. I originally had the ages mixed up between the MMP and TMM ages, but that got too confusing so I'll follow up with the Tokyo Mew Mew ages. So, Ryou's now 16, Ichigo's 14, etc.  Reviews are loved
1. Chapter 1

Hello, readers. You know how in elementary school and clubs and stuff like that, people come to the front of the room and say "My name is_ , and I_"? Well, for me, that would be "My name is Jessica Haywood, and I am a freak in every definition of the word." First of all, my only "friends" are my teachers, since all the kids at school call me a loser. Guess what nickname THAT has earned me? That's right: the ever-so-dreaded teacher's pet. Which actually couldn't be more appropriate. Because my DNA is infused with an animal's.

It all started about a month ago…

I had been walking down the sidewalk with a bag of groceries in one hand and a burger in another (it's not that I'm fat, but I'm not fit or anything so I like to spend spare change on some good ol' fast food) when something possessed me to take an unfamiliar turn. I didn't know this part of town very well, though I'd passed through it many times. I wanted to get home and put those groceries away, but figured a walk couldn't hurt. After all, that burger had to be at least 600 friggin' calories.

I suddenly stopped at the porch of a strange building. It was pretty big, and it was, well, pretty in general. It looked like a little girl's princess dollhouse had supersized into real life. There was a sign posted on the door that said "CLOSED". Still, I was tempted to look in the window. I looked around for anyone to accuse me of trespassing, then took a careful step forward.

I didn't make it to the window.

What happened next wasn't painful, just… weird. I felt like I was out of my body. Like I wasn't me, yet I was. I could no longer see the cute café I was walking toward, only a bright red light. When I glanced down, I shrieked. _I was naked_. What was going on? Was I a victim of some sort of sick sci-fi porn? The sad part is, one of my first thoughts was that I wouldn't mind that because at least someone, SOMEONE, was interested in me.

Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, I had no idea what the hell was going on. Maybe somebody shot me for stepping on their land, and I had died. So where was God? And the golden gates? Wait, the light was red… So maybe I had gone to Hell?

Wait. I saw something move. It looked like a sparkle- a light blue sparkle- was floating toward me. It started to take shape as it got closer. I then saw it was a sort of animal. A little animal, with a fluffy tail.

It was a squirrel. A blue squirrel.

I recognized what type it was right away: a Eurasian Red Squirrel. They were known for their crazy long tails and cute little tufts of fur on their ears. I had to smile for a moment at the adorable little rodent.

But, the smile quickly faded. This wasn't Eurasia, this was Japan. And no matter where you are, squirrels are not blue and do not glow. There had to have been something in my smoothie, or my burger was bad. Why else would I be hallucinating like this?

When I opened my eyes from a blink, I saw the squirrel walking up to me, _in midair_. Kay. Made about as much sense as everything else that was going on. As if they had a mind of their own, my arms reached out and grabbed the squirrel. Its beady black eyes met mine, and they seemed to have a hypnotizing effect. The next thing I knew, it had jumped into my chest. I glanced behind me to see if it had gone through me, but nope. It was _inside me._

Next thing I knew, I had fallen on my butt on the sidewalk. I immediately looked down, and sighed in relief. I was wearing clothes again. I quickly tossed all my spilled groceries back in the bag and scrambled to my feet, shooting off down the road. I was certainly not coming to that freakish café again.

At least, I didn't plan on it.

"I'm home!" I called. I don't know why I even bother announcing that every day. My dad works 5 to 11 every day. Poor guy has to be reminded to comb his hair and have breakfast every morning. Usually, that breakfast is something to go like yogurt or a granola bar. I've tried making him breakfast, and he appreciates it, but just doesn't have the time. I wished I could see him more, but it's not like I could complain. His hours put a roof over my head and prevented me from starving. After all, my part time job as a "cook" at a local fast food place (it's the one place I DON'T eat at, since I know what I have to put in the food) didn't support us much; I only earned $10 a week. $20 if I really impressed my boss, which was rare since he hates me.

Anyway.

There are two things that keep me from feeling lonely at my house. The first is a framed, enlarged version of the picture in the golden heart shaped locket I wear everywhere. It shows me, my dad, my mom, little brother, and newborn baby sister. You see, when I was 6, my dad took me shopping, and when we came home, our apartment had burned down. They saved my 4 day old sister Suzan, but my mom and brother they had trouble finding. They died after being in the hospital for a mere 2 hours. I cried for weeks. I think my dad did too, when he was alone though.

After about a week went by, my dad realized that we had been falling bankrupt for over a year, and he couldn't afford more than one child. He had no choice but to put Suzan up for adoption. It was when he kissed her good-bye that I saw my father cry for the first time in my life.

We had relatives up in Japan that would help us out with real estate, so we moved from America to there. Being a foreigner, I was an outcast the day I enrolled at my school. I had managed to make two friends, since they were both teased for being from different countries too. Unfortunately, their parents were only STATIONED in Japan. They moved before I had known either of them for more than 3 years. I've been painfully lonely friendship wise ever since.

Okay, so THAT was off topic. The second thing that keeps me from being lonely at home isn't a thing at all: "it" is my animals. I know it seems dumb to have pets when we can barely afford to care for ourselves, but my dad just couldn't get rid of our cat Daisy. We had gotten her as a kitten when Suzan was 2 days old. She's an old cat, but a good cat nonetheless. There's also Whiskers: my gray squirrel. I found him the day we moved into our current house, in the forest in the park. Some damn hunters had shot his mother- I knew it was for fun, since they left the body- so he was dying. My dad let me nurse him back to health, and since the little guy came to think of me as a mother, I kept him. My uncle helped me build an enclosure for him in the backyard.

After putting away the groceries and filling up Daisy's dish, I went outside to see my squirrely friend. We have a little routine: I click my tongue, and he pokes his head out of his house. When I open the cage door and step inside, he pounces onto his wooden tree-like perch and stretches his little legs. He waits for me to fill up his food dish, eats about half of it, and if I haven't left he scampers onto my shoulder and gives me a little squirrel-kiss on the cheek. But today, he didn't follow the routine.

The moment I stepped in the cage, I felt his fur brush against my neck. He was perched on my shoulder, sniffing me eagerly. I chuckled. "It's okay, I got your food right here buddy." I went to fill up his dish immediately, assuming he was really hungry for some reason. But I halted, puzzled. His food dish was still half full from this morning.

"You picky little guy, that stuff hasn't gone bad yet!" I took a fresh nut- his favorite kind, too- out of a bag and offered it to him. He uninterestedly continued climbing over me, tail twitching in excitement. That was odd. He NEVER turned down a nut. I hoped he wasn't sick… I couldn't afford a vet bill.

Then it hit me: the squirrel from in front of the café. It HAD jumped into me…

Okay. I definitely belonged making macaroni jewelry at the Funny Farm. Whiskers was probably just being weird today. No big deal. I gave him some fresh food, gently put him on his perch (it took me a few tries, he was REALLY determined to stay glued to my shoulder), and bolted out of the cage. I kissed two fingers and touched them to Whiskers' nose, then gradually made my way back inside.

I slumped against the wall, then slid down to the floor with a sigh. I ran a hand through my light brown hair, trying to get a grip.

Wait. What was that?

Tilting my head, I looked at the back of my hand. My jaw dropped. In the center of the back of my hand was a tiny, pink star. That wasn't there before…

I stood up, speed-shuffling into the kitchen where the light was better. The old saying "I know _ like the back of my hand" didn't really apply to me apparently. I looked at it from all different angles and distances, but it wouldn't go away. I told myself to get a grip. I probably just scratched it on Whiskers' cage or something. The fact that it was shaped like a star wasn't TOO bizarre. I mean, people claim to see grease stains shaped like Jesus.

My heartbeat started making its way back to normal, but I still had a pounding in my head. I seriously needed an Asprin. But, I reminded myself, Dad needs them way more than me. So I instead decided to settle for a bubble bath.

As I stripped out of my caprees, I heard a noise like when you drop a coin on the ground. At the same time, something shiny caught my eye. A tiny, golden pendent with strange pink markings on it had fallen out of my pocket. I picked it up and examined it in my hand. I felt a strange power emanating from it, washing over my arm. The normal human instinct would be to drop it, but something made me want to hold onto it. And never let go.

My arm seemed to have a mind of its own again, and brought the pendant toward my lips. Ew, was I seriously about to KISS it? I dropped it on the floor! I managed to prevent my mouth from touching the thing, but I couldn't bring it back down. Images streamed through my mind, consisting of silhouettes of 5 girls I didn't recognize and odd creatures (some of them resembled humans with big elf ears), then the squirrel from before, then strands of DNA. Throughout the montage, the colors red and blue were flashing. The final image was another silhouette, this one of a boy. For some reason, the image made my chest tight, bubbly, and warm.

Once the pictures stopped, my hand through to my head and I dropped the pendant. I miraculously didn't have a headache, but it had been so much in so little time that I needed a rest. Thank God tomorrow was Saturday.

I took a long, LONG bath. It lasted over an hour and a half, actually. I had fallen asleep halfway through it, so I awoke to cold water. I stood up, taking the stopper out of the drain. I wrapped a towel around myself and picked up my pile of clothes. I proceeded to my room, forgetting about the pendant at the bottom of the pile.

How odd. I didn't remember leaving the window in my room open… I shrugged, untying the towel. Once it was on the floor, I heard a sharp chirp from my window. I glanced up and smiled a little. A cute little bird was perched on my windowsill, staring at me. I wondered if it was weird that it felt uncomfortable to have a BIRD look at me when I was naked.

But I soon realized it wasn't the intrusion of privacy that made me feel odd.

A jellyfish-like creature floated up to the bird, something flashing in the middle of its translucent body. My jaw dropped as it wrapped itself around the little birdie and seemed to seep into it. I gasped as it fell backward out of the window. My instinct was to look out the window and see if it was okay. Damn you instincts… The bird had morphed into a giant eagle-looking thing, probably the size of a pterodactyl or bigger. It let out a screech that shook my entire house.

Without even thinking about it, I dove for the pendant. Before I knew it, my lips were pressed against its smooth surface. A voice I didn't realize was mine shouted out "MEW MEW RASPBERRY. METAMORPHO-SIS!" An unimaginable power washed over my entire body, everything around me becoming a blue and red light. I felt many things- too many to keep track of- change inside me, blood pumping through my veins at a breakneck pace. I saw two elbow-length, dark brown gloves stretch across my arms, a star shaped hole in the right one revealing the glowing pink star. I naturally covered up my chest with my newly gloved hands, but soon didn't need to as a strapless shirt with horizontal blue and red lines appeared. It ended right below my- oh, how I hate this word- breasts. On my shoulders were suddenly puffy, detached "sleeves" (so as sleeves they were actually pretty useless) that were blue with a red lining. A skirt with the same color combination but with vertical stripes appeared, as well as a pair of knee-high light brownish boots. There was a red thing on my left thigh- I can't think of what it's called, but the groom takes off the bride's in a wedding- with blue trim, too.

My body was now in control of itself. My mind seemed to be on a distant planet. I did a 180 degree spin, then a handstand. I. did. a. handstand. And it came as naturally as breathing. Take that, D- in gym class! The joy of the moment quickly faded, though, as a super furry, red-orange TAIL more than ¾ as long as my height popped out of me. Talk about freaky and disgusting! Yet, I didn't feel it at all.

I sprung backward, landing perfectly on my two feet with one in front of the other. I spun around some more, my hair and eyes becoming red- and I mean RED red, not Weasley red. My ears faded away, and were replaced with two ears the same color as the tail. They had two little tufts of fur on top, their color closer to a dark brown. Somehow, I could still hear out of them, almost better than with my human ears. I winked- not by my free will, mind you- and all the sparkles that had come off my body during the transformation came together around my neck. A blue choker with red trim formed on my neck, the pendant dangling off it. I spun around once more, leaned back a little, and crossed my arms and legs casually.

Without even feeling myself move, I was out of that position and back in my room within a split second. The bird was flapping outside my window, staring at me eagerly. _Hungrily._ I lost control of my voice and body once more and called out "RASPBERRY RIBBON RING!" A red ring with blue dots on it suddenly appeared in my hand. I slipped it over my right hand, twirling it around my wrist several times. It must've reacted with the star on my hand, since they started glowing in unison. I tossed the ring in the air, and another larger ring- this one blue with red dots- appeared and fit itself perfectly around the smaller one. The new ring made its way back to my hands, and I thrust it forward. Somehow, SOMEHOW, a blinding light burst from it, piercing the bird. Its roar of pain was deafening, and I felt sort of bad for it. But, I saw the jellyfish thing float away from it, and it return to its cute little self.

Wow. All that transforming crap for that quick fight. But it was then I realized the whole sequence had taken place within one moment. The bird probably saw me as my human self, blinked, then saw me as this freaky chick. I looked in my dresser mirror and saw I was still that freak. I took a few steps closer, and stared at myself. It took me a while to accept it was MY reflection. I gasped a little when I saw a tear forming in the corner of my eye, and gulped when it rolled down my cheek. In a flash of pixilish light, I was human again.

With all that had just happened, I still managed to have enough sense to throw on my nightgown. Once I did so, however, I fell back on my bed and let the tears continue. Soon enough, I was crying like a baby. A pathetic fricking baby.

I always knew I was a freak, but this was just too much.

Welcome to my story.


	2. Chapter 2

Now, remember, a month has passed since that happened. I fight at least 3 of those freaky jellyfish-possessed animal things every week. I have to admit, it gives me something to look forward to. I guess I'm pretty good at it, 'cause I've never even come close to losing to one.

Anyway. Time to tell you what happened at school.

Clutching my books to my chest, I made a beeline out of the hallway. Tips on getting down the hallway safely for friendless dorks: Always keep your head down but eyes up, avoid touching ANYONE, ignore any laughs whispers or stares, and keep on walking at a brisk pace. That should keep you good, for the most part.

Here's where the exception is: if you know Misaki Torres. She's a pro at catching the flies buzzing around the web that is "her" hallway. I was almost to the door, when I felt two manicured hands grip my shoulders. Next thing I knew, there was a severe pain in the back of my head as my brain bounced around my skull while I was slammed against a locker. I glared down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with her.

"Cough it up," she demanded. Normally, I'd hand her the homework I'd done for her (usually I filled out wrong answers on purpose) or notes she was too lazy to take. But today, I was feeling brave and feisty.

I coughed overdramatically.

"Ha ha. Now where's my homework?"

"Right here." I pushed a binder at her. She smirked, flipping through the pages with one hand. Then she frowned.

"You put the names of Winx Club fairies for the list of important women in history!" she hissed.

I grinned. "How would YOU know they're Winx Club fairies? I thought you've ALWAYS been such a toughie."

Anger boiled up in her face, and she tightened her grip on me. "Shut the HELL up, you bag of shit."

"Naughty naughty language!" I sang. I knew I'd be dead in a few minutes, but I was really enjoying myself.

Through my peripheral vision, I saw two girls- one with boy-like grayish-brown hair, and one with short blonde hair- push a red headed girl toward me. She gulped and shakily said "You leave her alone, you big bully…!" This was certainly not what I ever pictured my savior to be. Oh, right. I never pictured a savior. Just my life dragging on as a living Hell.

Misaki and I both blinked, and the pale black haired girl tossed back her head and laughed. "This is classic! A little girl playing hero."

The redhead put her hands on her hips. "Little girl? Hello, I'm only 3 years younger than you, Ms. Flunk-So-Bad-I-Get-Held-Back." I liked this girl.

"Whatever. I need a new punching bag anyway." Misaki released her grip on me then strutted over to the girl. The redhead let out a sharp "Eep"ish noise that was awfully similar to the noise Daisy makes when she's frightened. I didn't hesitate to bolt away from the scene. But halfway down the hall, I stopped and glanced behind me. Misaki had the girl by the neck.

I bit my lip. This stranger had stood up for me, ME, and now she was paying for it. I had to do SOMETHING. Sighing, I turned and ran back the hall. "Look, pick in someone your own size," I growled. Misaki just smirked, letting go of the girl who was now gasping for breath. Misaki started twirling one finger in her dark hair, slowly stepping toward me with one hand on her hip. She always acted like she was so hot, yet she chose to wear the BOY'S uniform. Obviously she was hiding something.

"Well well, when did Razzy Dazzy get so brave?" I shuttered at the stupid nickname people had given me. Supposedly, it had been a thing for kids- mostly girls- to be named after food. At the beginning of high school, some kids that felt bad that I was such an outcast started calling me Raspberry. I hated it. My name was Jessica Haywood. They couldn't change that, even if it was supposed to be an act of kindness.

Anyway, adrenaline was boiling up in my veins. I so badly wanted to claw up every fiber of her being, whether as a human or a- what did I call myself? Oh, right- Mew. I wish that as a Mew I had some more qualities of the animal. Like rabies.

As I thought up ways to hurt her- though I knew it'd only happen in my fantasies- while clenching and unclenching my fist, she just stood there, grinning cruelly down at me with her head tilted back a bit. I wondered if we'd stay like this forever.

My eye suddenly landed on the clock in the hallway. It was 2:29… and school let out at 2:30. I slowly started walking backward, both hands behind my back. Misaki copied my every step, except she went forward. I kept one eye on the red needle on the clock. 5… 4… 3… 2…

The bell rang, and kids started pouring out of the hallways. They shoved and pushed past Misaki, not noticing it was her. She looked around in bewilderment, but was soon swept into the crowd. I smirked, gripping onto the wall. Mission achieved. I looked around for the girl that had stood up for me, but she had melted into the sea of people as well.

However, the moment I stepped outside, I was greeted by someone tapping my arm. "Hey, excuse me…!" I glanced behind me and gave a small smile. It was the redhead.

"Oh, hey. Uh, thanks…" I murmured.

She smiled real big. "You're welcome… My friends and I were sick of her picking on people, and they decided I should go stop her, so um… Oh! My name's Ichigo Momomiya, by the way! You are?"

Ichigo. That meant Strawberry. Of course. "I'm Jessica Haywood." I hoped Ichigo could hear me, because my voice wasn't cooperating. I wasn't used to this interacting with people stuff.

Ichigo had a look on her face that screamed "I really really wanna ask you something, but I know I shouldn't!" I looked at the ground awkwardly.

"So, u-uh, see you around?"

Ichigo gave an overly emphasized nod. "Yeah! See you Jessie! Um, can I call you Jessie?"

"Well, I guess… I-I mean, it's what my friends called me, you know, when I had friends…" Smooth, Jessica. Real smooth.

"You mean you don't have any friends? I could be your friend!"

I started to wonder why the heck she was so eager to befriend me, but shut it out and smiled. "That'd be awesome…!" Ichigo smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when her phone vibrated. "Oh! I gotta go! Catch you later?"

Now I nodded. "Yeah. That'd be great."

Ichigo smiled and ran off. I never, ever would've even thought about how she was running in the direction of the café.


	3. Chapter 3

For just a bit, let's tell this story in third person point of view. It was closing time at a cutesy little place called Café Mew Mew. A 14 year old girl named Ichigo Momomiya stood at one of the ornate windows, her elbows leaning on the sill with her chin propped in her palms. Her eyelids were half closed as she stared airily out toward the street while not actually seeing anything.

"What are you doing, Ichigo? Everyone else is up changing out of their uniforms and there's still a table you have to put up for the night." Normally, hearing the blonde boy's voice when she hadn't even heard him walk up behind her would have made Ichigo screech like a cat and jump at least 10 feet in the air; however, she was too out of it to be affected. Instead, she leisurely glanced over her shoulder and blinked to bring her eyes into focus.

"Oh, sorry… I'll do that now…" She stretched and took a step toward the only table whose chairs weren't flipped on top of it yet.

"As stupid as it is to hold you up… What's been your problem? You're even more ditzy than usual," the blonde teenager questioned. There was more teasing than bitterness in his tone; the two got on noticeably better than when they'd first made acquaintance.

Ichigo shrugged slightly, adjusting her maid crown. "Just had stuff on my mind. How well things are going with me and Masaya… The finale of my favorite manga that I finished yesterday… But mostly, there's this one girl…"

The blonde boy faked a look of shocked disgust. "Here I thought Masaya was your dream guy, and he's turned you lesbian…"

"That isn't what I meant!" Ichigo shrieked, huffily storming over to the table where she was due. "She's always alone, so I couldn't help but like, keep a tab on her. I was walking Masaya's dog with him in the park one night, and I caught a glimpse of her… Ryou, I swear I saw her transform! She ducked behind a tree, but there was this slight flash of red light… Masaya and I were there for a while yet I never saw her come back out," she explained, immediately returning to her window.

"But… That isn't possible!" she continued, suddenly standing bolt upright. She spun around to face Ryou, who was drifting back toward the kitchen. He glanced at her with only partial interest. "I mean, there are only 5 of us!" Silence. Ichigo furrowed her eyebrows and aimed the next phrase more at Ryou than herself this time. "_There are only five of us, right?_"

Ryou smirked. "Surprise. And you're the last to know, too."

Ichigo's brown eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets; she ignored the second statement. "_What? _You made _more _Mews? B-but why? How many more?"

"I'll answer those questions in order," Ryou indicated casually, crossing his arms and leaning against a wall. "There aren't only 5 Mews now. Yes, we made more. Because: you know the situation, but I might as well remind you… The aliens returned a mere month after a much weaker enemy arrived and was defeated. Something or some_one _erased their memories of their time spent on Earth. They have no reconciles of the battles they've fought against us, the damage they've previously done to the planet, _any_ experiences they've had here… The thoughts they had when they first came to Earth have been restored. So, our new mission is to fight their newer, stronger chimera animals, while trying to restore their memories. This won't be an easy job at all, so we've found three more recruits," he explained matter-of-factly.

"Oh, gosh…" Ichigo planted her forehead against the window. "Now it's _really _déjà vu. I'll have to find the three new girls, right?"

"Bingo."

"Well this'll be fun," Ichigo groaned sarcastically, allowing her eyelids to droop. She opened them sluggishly, and gasped at what- _who, _rather- she saw in the increasingly dark streets. "No way!" she breathed, sitting up so quickly that she must have given herself at least minor brain damage. She dashed outside to greet an innocently passing person, leaving Ryou to roll his eyes behind her, masking his slight interest.

And I'm back again. I didn't intend to pass the café, but my direction was slurred slightly with the headache swirling around my head. My boss had had a fine time yelling his vocal chords out at me, and in the end, I'd lost my job. _Fan_tastic. I anticipated going home, curling up in a ball, and allowing agony and hopelessness to take turns suffocating me. Sure, I could find a new job… But certainly not quick enough to pay this month's bills.

"Jessica! HEY!" a vaguely familiar voice called. Who in the world-? Oh, it was my new… friend. Huh. It had been just about forever since I referred to someone as that… It felt strange. Speaking of strange, why the heck was Ichigo wearing a pinkish maid's outfit and running out of the café in front of which I'd been turned into a… Hybrid human-squirrel creature? Superhero? Super _freak_? God, what _was _I?

"Oh, Ichigo… Hi…" I managed to get out tiredly. The huge smile melted off of Ichigo's face.

"You don't look so good…"

"Just… Rough day," I muttered.

Her smile returned, but only at half its previous strength. "Well, I think I can make your day better. First things first…" I stood there in confusion as Ichigo began flitting over me, occasionally grabbing my arm or a chunk of my thick hair. What was this, a police's pat-down session? My eyes widened when she got to my right hand. I don't know why, but ever since I saw that star marking (which never even dulled), I felt like it would be foreboding for anyone to see it. Ichigo, however, seemed more than pleased. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I knew it!" she squealed. She stuck out her leg and pointed at her upper thigh. For a moment, I was disgusted at her showiness, until I saw what she was pointing at: a small, pink heart with curved lines above and below it. "Do you know what these are?" she asked excitedly.

I shook my head slowly. "No… It just appeared on my hand after- …No, I don't know what it is."

"They're called Mew marks. Jessica, you're a Mew, and so am I!" I felt a tingling sensation, like shattering glass, explode throughout my body. It seemed as if my heart had dropped to the bottom of my stomach and continued its rapid beating there.

"I… I thought I was the only one…" I whispered. Ichigo shook her head enthusiastically, sending her crown askew, and opened her mouth to speak further, but was cut off.

"What's going on?" questioned a gentle female voice. A girl with circular glasses and incredibly long, green hair in thin double braids stood outside the now open doors.

"And why are you still in uniform?" added another girl with her navy blue hair pulled into two buns.

Ichigo was practically bouncing on her heels in excitement. "This girl," she grabbed my arm, "is a Mew! The first new Mew! She goes to my school, and I suspected her of being one for a while… The mark on her hand confirms it! And her name is-"

"Jessica Haywood," a smooth masculine voice breathed. The four girls that had gathered outside the café stepped sideways to make way for the man who had interrupted. I'm not going to lie, he was quite handsome. His dark brown hair was pulled back into a thin ponytail which was at first unnoticeable from the front. He wore something similar to a waiter's outfit, and nothing but warm kindness shone in his gray eyes.

"I'm so glad to finally make your acquaintance," he continued, standing directly in front of me. I wanted to say something, but I figured whatever response I could formulate would just be stupid so I was glad that my voice box failed me. "My name is Keiichiro Akasaka. I'm one of the two leaders of the Mew project, and I apologize for any problems my experiment has caused for you." All hope of replying was lost when he kneeled down, took my hand, and kissed it right over the Mew mark.

Rolling her eyes despite the broad smile on her face, Ichigo gently flicked Keiichiro on the forehead. "Quit flirting and let me introduce everyone." Chuckling softly in his throat, Keiichiro stood and backed toward the pink building behind them.

Ichigo spun around to face me. "First off, again: I'm Ichigo Momomiya. I'm the Iriomote Wildcat!" She made these weird, cutesy little clawing motions with her hands as if to prove her point. She hopped over to the other girls and placed a hand on the shoulder of the shortest one. The blonde little cutie couldn't be more than 10. "This here is Pudding Fong. She's the Golden Lion Tamarin."

"It's a type of monkey-thing!" Pudding told me in a very young voice, standing on her tiptoes.

I tilted my head slightly, a smiling twitching onto my face. "Yeah, I've heard of them… They're adorable." If I wasn't mistaken, the look on Pudding's face was evidence that she was already taking a liking to me.

"This," Ichigo continued, hopping over to the girl with the glasses, "is Lettuce Midorikawa: the Finless Porpoise."

"Nice to meet you," Lettuce murmured, bowing her head and appearing slightly flustered. Now I completely permitted a smile.

"Same to you," I said.

Ichigo motioned at the girl with the buns in her hair. "This is-"

"Minto Aizawa, the Ultramarine Lorikeet," she finished for her. Ichigo shot Minto a very quick glare before making her way over to a beautiful yet intimidating girl with purple hair and eyes to match. I had to tell my jaw not to drop at the sight of her.

"Our Gray Wolf is Zakuro-"

"Fujiwara… Yes, I know her," I remarked. Zakuro simply gave me an unenthusiastic "Hey." That was good enough for me though, seeing as she was a _celebrity. _

"Together, we make Tokyo Mew Mew! An alien-fighting team formed about a year ago," Ichigo concluded.

I quickly managed to collect myself. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," I chimed with a partial bow. My smile faltered, though, when I noticed that not everyone had been introduced. Leaning in the doorway, looking like he didn't exactly want to be there was a blonde teen. I don't know if it's a natural female instinct to rate guys the moment you see them or if that's just another freaky thing about me, but on a scale of 1 to 10, this boy was an easy 15. "Um, and, who are you?" I asked him hesitantly. When did I get so bold? Yes, managing to say more than a single word to a boy is _bold _in my standards.

"Ryou Shirogane," he told me monotonously without even looking up. He extended his arm lazily; I took a few semi-nervous steps forward to shake it. Our fingers only made brief contact before he slipped his hand away almost in disgust and ducked back inside. Charming.

"So, what do you say?"

"Huh? What?" I shook my head slightly, turning back to Ichigo. Everyone was looking at me with at least _some _eagerness, Ichigo and Pudding more than the others. The latter flung herself forward and hugged me around the waist, staring up at me with sparkling eyes.

"Ichigo-oneechan asked if you'd join our team na no da!" Join their-?

"I… O-oh," was all I managed to get out. Clearing my throat, I patted Pudding's head and pried her off of me as gently as possible. I had to close my eyes in order to resist her persistent, adorable gaze. "Look, everyone, I'm sorry… It's just… 'Teamwork' has never worked out for me… It's… It's for the best if I decline. I- sorry." And without a backward glance or giving anyone an opportunity to argue, I bolted on home.

Halfway there, I had to stop and take a breather. I insisted it was because I was out of shape, when in truth I knew it was because the guilt and regret bearing down on me was weighing me down.


End file.
